Men's Basketball

Former Cougars Square Off in NCAA Ranks

Feb 01, 2019

Kingsville, Tx- On Thursday night, January 31st, Texas A&M University of Kingsville Basketball hosted Texas A&M University of Commerce for a Lone Star Conference showdown. This would be the second time the Javelinas and Lions have met this season. Previously, Texas A&M Commerce beat Texas A&M Kingsville back in early December by a five points, 73-68. Former Cougar now Javelina, Rashon Thomas recorded nine points, two rebounds, one block and one steal in 22 minutes of action for TAMUK. Fellow CBC Alum, Willie Rooks scored five points, collected four boards, one assists and two steals in the win for TAMUC.

The latest bout, round two at TAMUK's Steinke Center would be another highly contested game. The Lions held onto a two point lead at intermission, 38-36 over the Javelinas. In the second half of the ball game, the pace of the game picked up, along with the intensity. Both teams fought hard throughout the remainder of the contest, but the Lions were able to defeat the Javelinas, 80-77. The loss for the Javelinas snapped a six game win streak for the ball club.

Willie Rooks led his team to victory while having a huge game, recording a Double-Double with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Rooks also had two assists, one block and one steal in the game for TAMUC.

TAMUK's, Rashon Thomas was the games leading scorer with 23 points while also collecting five rebounds, and a steal. Thomas shot 50 percent from the field going 6-12, 4-9 from three point range and 7-8 at the charity strike.

Thomas scored 16.5 points per game for the Cougars and averaged 4.2 assists a game during the 2017-2018 season. The Houston native shot 45.8% from the field on the season and an outstanding 48.7% of his shots from three point range. Thomas finished first in NJCAA Region XIV and 11th in the Nation in three point field goal percentage. Thomas scored in double figures 23 times while at CBC and scored a career-high 35 points against San Jacinto College (1/27/2018), making five three and hitting all 12 free throws to go with his nine assists and three rebounds.

Thomas is a Junior who is currently majoring in Architectural Engineering at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

Texas A&M University- Commerce Men's Basketball Junior Guard, Willie Rooks was named All Second Team for the Lone Star Conference last season. Rooks started 17 conference games while averaging 16.4 points per game. The former Cougar also averaged 34.6 minutes per game while shooting .442 from the field and .385 from three point range during LSC play. Rooks was Named Second Team All-Region XIV during the 2016-2017 season for CBC. The Houston native played in 25 games as a sophomore while leading the conference in scoring average and was sixth in the entire NJCAA, averaging 23.0 points per game. Rooks also led the conference and was ninth in the nation in field goals made 48.1 percent and was third in the nation in three-point percentage, shooting 43.1 percent from behind the arc while also averaging 4.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. Rooks was a scoring machine for the Cougars, scoring in double figures 24 times, including 23 games in a row. He scored more than 20 points 16 times and more than 30 points five times. Rooks scored a career-high 40 points against Jacksonville College (2/14/2017), making 10 threes in the game while recording six rebounds and six assists.

Rooks is a Senior and will be graduating in May with a Bachelors Degree in General Studies at Texas A&M University-Commerce.